Monday, August 13, 2007

Shooting for the Stars

I have been experimenting with the settings on my camera and have tried some night shots. Tonight I went out and took pictures of the stars. I adjusted the aperture and shutter speed and ISO settings and got some pictures of the Big Dipper. Some of the shots have streaks like shooting stars but it was only airplanes. It has been a while since I just looked at the night sky. At the edge of the town the lights aren't too bad for stargazing but some night I would like to get away from the lights and really see the stars.
Last night was a thrill too. I had been over at Mom and Dad's and came back across the lot around 9 pm. I always look over in the field for deer and did not see any. But when I got close to my gate I heard a noise by the crabapple tree next to the alley and looked up to see a young buck eating crabapples. He was not concerned about my presence at all. Sassy was in the yard and discovered him only because she came to the gate to look for me. She stood at the fence and barked at him but he ignored her too. I got a few photos of him. Looks like maybe an eight-point rack.Dad is getting some good photos with his new camera too.

3 comments:

Jen said...

The night shots are the one thing that gives me fits. Could you help me? Since our cameras are similar, and made by the same company, you might be able to walk me through it without too much difficulty.

Cool photos, by the way. Love the Big Dipper!

Martha said...

Jen,
I'll help you if you help me (and I'll even help if you won't/can't).

I used the tripod Dad gave me and set the camera up and put the dogs in the house. I suggest you do the same with the kids. Point the camera up (duh). I used the Manual setting, shutter speed up to 15 seconds (the longest mine has), aperture value was usually 8.0 (also as far as mine goes) and I played with the ISO (mine has settings for 80, 100, 200, 400, 800 - I think I stayed around 200 for most but tried a few at the higher numbers). Avoid shooting toward any lights and don't worry a lot about focusing on anything in particular. Take lots of shots. If there are planes in the sky you get interesting streaks. The longer the shutter is open the more movement you will capture. Have fun!

Now, I've been meaning to ask - how do I get that Rockin' Girl Blogger thing on my blog?

mon@rch said...

Darn, for a second I thought you caught one of the shooting stars! I always seem to get planes that I don't see until I take the camera inside!